20/09/13
In China they have a thing called Mid-Autumn Festival and according to Wikipedia it’s kind of like Thanksgiving in America. While I don’t know much about it, I do know that it meant we got the day off work so Rory and I decided to take a Chinese cookery course. When we went to Thailand we went on the most amazing all-day cookery course. We spent the morning walking around the busy city markets and once we’d bought some cookery supplies we took a train out of the city and cycled to a remote farm where we spent the entire day cooking amazing food. It was one of the best things we did while in South East Asia, so we wanted to see what China had to offer. After doing some online research we found a recommended cookery school, booked ourselves in for a crash course in Cantonese cooking and when Friday morning rolled around we hopped on the subway and set off on another adventure.
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| Down the hutong... |
Despite being located in an actual
hutong the school was easy to find and in no time we were led through an
ancient looking door, down a twisting alleyway and in to an open courtyard. Within
minutes we began our first dish of the day. In Thailand we prepared the
ingredients for each individual dish and then cooked and ate that dish
immediately but today we prepared all the ingredients at once. We then
proceeded to cook the dishes consecutively with no break between each dish.
This was a real shame as we didn’t have time to actually eat and enjoy each
individual dish, rather we sat and ate everything at once but by the time we
had finished cooking the last dish the first dish was freezing! Luckily Rory
and I realised this was happening so we became excellent speed eaters and managed
to cook and at least get a few mouthfuls of each dish before we had to start
the next one! While it wasn’t graceful or culturally sensitive, I’m glad I got
to at least taste each dish while they were fresh from the wok :)
While the cookery course wasn’t as
good as the one in Thailand we did cook some very tasty meals and it was a nice
change. The day would have been more enjoyable if we were given time to eat and
enjoy each dish before moving on to the next one but I suppose we are in China
and nothing they do makes sense! When I wrote about the cookery school in
Thailand I included all the recipes so I thought I would throw up a few on
here. I would never in a million years have chosen to eat eggplant but that was
my favourite dish! I was also pleasantly surprised by the wilted lettuce – who knew
that throwing salad in a wok was a good idea?! I also think it’s pretty amazing
that they cook everything in a wok – it’s a real pain when you want to cook
some brownies or have a wee baked potato but they make it work and they really
do knock out some good food. The recipes were all very easy and they took very
little time to prepare and cook so if you’re in the mood for some
authentic Cantonese cuisine give them a
go!
Chilli and Garlic Eggplant
Ingredients
180g of eggplant, cut in to small finger size
10g of minced pork
2 tablespoons of minced picked chilli
1 teaspoon of ginger
2 teaspoons of garlic
Seasoning;
1 teaspoon of sugar
2 teaspoons of soy sauce
2/3 teaspoons of vinegar
A little sesame oil
Thickening;
½ teaspoon of starch/cornflour
3 teaspoons of water
1. Heat wok on
middle flame, add 2 tablespoons of oil.
2. Add the
eggplant and stir until soft – then remove.
3. Add 1
tablespoon of oil, turn to a low heat, add the pork, stirring until the pork separates
and the colour changes.
4. Add the chilli,
ginger and garlic, stir until fragrant and add 100ml of water.
5. Add the
seasoning, mix well and add the eggplant
6. Cook until the
water has reduced by half – then add the thickening and allow to coat the
eggplant
7. Add the spring
onion
8. Turn off the
heat, add the sesame oil, serve
Stir Fried Lettuce
Ingredients
500g of lettuce
Seasoning
2 tablespoons of minced garlic
2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
1. Tear the
lettuce in to big pieces
2. Season wok with
2 tablespoons of oil over a high flame.
3. When the oil
smokes add the lettuce, stir until the lettuce wilts
4. Remove lettuce
and drain the water
5. Add 2 tablespoons
of oil to the wok, reduce to a low flame
6. Add the garlic,
when it begins to colour add the soy sauce and increase the heat
7. Add the
lettuce, quickly mix and take out, serve
Black Pepper Beef
Ingredients
125g of sliced beef
70g of sliced green pepper, red pepper and onion
Meat Marinade
1/8 teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of light soy sauce
½ teaspoon of dark soy sauce
½ teaspoon of wine vinegar
2 teaspoons of corn starch
2 teaspoons of water
Seasoning
1 teaspoon of julienned ginger
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
1 piece of spring onion – the white part
Sauce
½ teaspoon of black pepper
½ teaspoon of light soy sauce
½ teaspoon of dark soy sauce
½ teaspoon of oyster sauce
3 tablespoons of water
½ teaspoon of starch
1. Marinate beef
with marinade for 15 minutes
2. Season the wok
with 1 tablespoon of oil on a high heat
3. Add the green
pepper, red pepper and onion, stir until fragrant and remove.
4. Season wok with
2 tablespoons of oil, add the ginger, garlic and spring onion
5. Add the beef,
allow to cook and add the vegetables
6. Add the sauce,
mix well and serve
Pork Rib with Soy Sauce and Sugar
Ingredients
1kg of pork ribs
Seasoning 1:
Slice a few pieces of ginger
2 pieces of star anise
Seasoning 2:
1 ½ tablespoons of dark soy sauce
4 tablespoons of light soy sauce
4 tablespoons of sugar
2 tablespoons of Chinese white wine (apparently this is
30% alcohol)
4 tablespoons of vinegar
1. Chop the ribs
in to 5cm long sections
2. Season wok with
2 tablespoons of oil, add the ginger and ribs, stirring until fragrant, about 5
minutes
3. Add 200ml of
water, the star anise and all the ingredients in seasoning 2
4. Cover and cook
on a low heat for 1.5 hours or until the water is gone, serve.
If you're interested in reading about our Thai cookery course here's the link - alternativey you can type Domestic Goddess in to the search bar on the right :)
http://ginamccune.blogspot.com/2012/11/domestic-goddess.html
